Introduction:

Perinatal asphyxia is a syndrome characterized by the suspension or severe decrease in gas exchange at the level of the placenta or lungs.

Objective:

To characterize neonates with perinatal asphyxia during labor with the introduction of umbilical arterial blood gas test.

Materials and methods:

A descriptive, cross-sectional study was carried out from October 2016 to December 2021. It dealt with the entire universe, 75 asphyxiated neonates. The variables were: maternal age, gestational age at birth, associated and pregnancy-dependent diseases, type and time of labor, characteristics of the amniotic fluid, anomalies of the placenta and umbilical cord, pH of the cord arterial blood gas test, clinical evolution of the newborn. The data were stored and processed in a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet, using descriptive statistics.

Results:

Patients with maternal age below 20 years (56%), and gestational age at birth from 28 to 33.6 weeks (77.3%) predominated. Arterial hypertension was the most common comorbidity, as well as preeclampsia, among pregnancy-dependent diseases (30.7%); 61.3% had eutocic delivery, with clear amniotic fluid (65.3%), previous placenta (38.7%) and umbilical cord circulars (30.7%). In 86.7%, the blood gas pH was less than 7 and 92% had a favorable clinical evolution.

Conclusions:

Perinatal asphyxia was predominantly associated with adolescent mothers, with gestational time between 28-36 weeks; preeclampsia, placenta previa, umbilical cord circulars, and blood gases pH lower than 7.

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